


now we're strangers in this lobby

by lilykat



Series: if i fell in love with you, would you bring me the moon (or broken beer bottles and fresh war wounds)? [6]
Category: Among Us (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Blood and Injury, Minor Character Death, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-04
Updated: 2020-11-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:02:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27380887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilykat/pseuds/lilykat
Summary: "Black looked away. His throat closing up and his eyes blurring."
Relationships: Black & Purple (Among Us), Black & White (Among Us), Black/White (Among Us), Cyan/Purple (Among Us)
Series: if i fell in love with you, would you bring me the moon (or broken beer bottles and fresh war wounds)? [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1986031
Comments: 4
Kudos: 24





	now we're strangers in this lobby

**Author's Note:**

> There are some mentions of blood and injuries but it's not super graphic cus I'm not great at writing super graphic things but I hope you enjoy!

It happened five minutes after he’d woken up. He and White had been looking at what tasks they had that day, trying to figure out the best way to go about doing them. They had barely been about to leave the cafeteria, they were the last ones in there since they had woken up late. Pink and Green just a few seconds ahead of them in the hallway, and then lights turned off and doors closed and they were stuck.

His hand frantically groped the air beside him until his fingers grasped White’s wrist and held on for dear life. He wasn’t letting go, not for anything, not even if he died. When the emergency lights didn’t turn on, Black started panicking even more. His heart was pounding, his lungs were shrinking, and he felt the darkness pressed against his skin. He discovered that he now has a fear of being in the dark. He knew that it was only the two of them in here, but his anxiety was telling him that they weren’t.

It, luckily, didn’t last too long. Just a few minutes of being paralyzed with fear before the cafeteria flooded with bright white lights. The doors unlocked a few seconds afterward. Then their tablets beeped. The alert took up the whole screen. They looked at each other, faces crashing with grief, and they ran.

Cyan was slumped over on his side on a bed in medbay, the front of his brightly-colored suit soaking up all the blood spilling from the slit on his neck. Orange, Yellow, and Blue were hovering near the entrance, eyes blurred with tears. It was Orange who had sent out the alert, her message briefly saying that they saw something on cams. 

Purple burst between the five of them blocking the door. A jumble of pleas and sobs ripping through his mouth as his shaking fingers hovered over Cyan’s chest and face. His hands clutched desperately at Cyan’s and he brought them up to his forehead as more cries fell from his lips. 

Black looked away. His throat closing up and his eyes blurring. He couldn’t watch it. Couldn’t watch another person he cared about losing someone they loved. He vaguely heard Pink start talking and then they were all walking towards the cafeteria. Someone had to drag Purple along with them, his cries still bouncing around in Black’s head.

Once they were all seated, Pink immediately asked Orange and Yellow what they saw.

“We were in cams and we saw Purple and Cyan enter medbay. It was a little hard to see but Cyan had closed the door behind them. We didn’t think much of it but then after a few minutes, the lights turned off and the doors locked,” Orange said, glancing at Purple who couldn’t stop trembling, “When lights turned on again, the medbay door was open.”

“We had a bad feeling so we went to go check,” Yellow took over explaining, “Purple wasn’t in there but Cyan was.”

Black felt his stomach turn and twist. No, no it can’t be Purple. He wouldn’t have killed Cyan, he just, he wouldn’t. And then his mind supplied him with the fact that Purple had been the last person to see Red alive before he also had ended up dead. And now Cyan was dead and Purple was the last person to see him alive. He looked down at his shoes and screwed his eyes shut. _Please, let me be wrong, please, someone please have something that’ll help clear Purple._

Pink sighed heavily, “Purple?”

“I left him there,” his voice was quiet, shaky, filled with guilt. “Right before lights went off, I had been opening the door to leave. The doors closed before I could go back inside. I left him there. If I had just- I should’ve…”

Pink looked at Yellow and Orange for confirmation. “We didn’t see the door open at all,” Yellow replied quietly, looking anywhere but Purple.

He didn’t say anything else, he didn’t try to defend himself. He just kept muttering unintelligible words under his breath.

_Please say something Purple, please._

Pink looked back at Purple before looking down at her tablet, thinking. “He was also the last person to see Red alive,” she closed her eyes at the mention of her dad but she kept going, “and now he was the last person to see Cyan alive.”

“If you aren’t lying and you weren’t in there with Cyan when lights were out,” Blue said, “then where were you?”

Purple flooded with guilt, “I didn’t want to die. I was- I was too exposed in the hallway so I kept moving around. I was trying to find somewhere to hide. I- I should’ve just fucking stayed.” His shoulders were shaking again as he quietly sobbed, his fingers pulling painfully at his hair. 

“Where was everyone else,” Pink asked.

“Black and I were stuck in here.”

“Me and Pink were stuck in admin,” Green said.

“I was waiting for Cyan in reactor, Yellow and Orange saw me in there before the lights turned off and the doors closed,” Blue said.

“We did,” Orange confirmed. 

Pink didn’t say anything for a few minutes. She looked down at her tablet the entire time before everyone, beside Purple, had gotten an alert on their tablets. Black clicked on it with shaky fingers and it opened up a voting screen. Only two options, Purple or skip. His stomach twisted and turned as he watched everyone else stare down at their screens. A few people had already put it in votes. He knew the majority would be voting for Purple and even though his mind was telling him that all the evidence pointed to Purple, his gut was completely disagreeing.

He knew Purple, even more, he knew Purple and Cyan. They loved each other completely. Something pure and light amidst everything going on. He didn’t want to believe that Purple could’ve done this, could’ve slit the throat of someone he loved so fucking much. 

He voted, unsurprised to realize that he had been the last one. He was surprised to see that Blue had also skipped with him. He looked at Blue who was looking at Purple with grief and guilt lining every detail of his face. 

The next hour was a blur he couldn’t remember if he wanted to. He moved automatically, following whatever Pink ordered them to do which was clean up medbay and then meet up at the airlock. Cleaning didn’t take very long but Pink had given them time to collect themselves.

They all stood in a semi-circle around Purple. He was shrunken in on himself and he was still shaking. He had accepted his fate the moment he was accused. Both of his hands were wrapped tightly around a necklace that brought forth a memory Black had forgotten about. Remembering that day had made watching this worse. Purple bent down to pick up his helmet and he stepped a little closer to the open airlock. 

“I,” he started, his words hoarse and shaky, “I know you all think I did this but- but please one of you has to know that I would never, _never_ , have killed Cyan, please.” He searched for something in all of them and landed on Black with a shimmer of dull hope in his eyes. “You were there that day, Black, please you have to believe me,” he was desperately pleading.

Everyone else had turned away but Black continued staring. He hesitated before nodding his head, mouthing the words ‘I do’. He wanted so badly to reach out and comfort him in some way, just for a second before Purple walks into the airlock. So he did. He ran forward and pulled Purple into a hug, not caring what this looked like for the others. He didn’t care if this was suspicious or if they thought he was betraying the dead for comforting their supposed murderer. He didn’t care. Not when Purple melted into the hug and he released a few quiet sobs into his shoulder. He pulled back a little and brought their foreheads together. He stared straight into Purple’s eyes, “I believe you, I promise.” He lingered for a few seconds before pulling away and stepping back. His heart was squeezing painfully and guilt wrapped a tight hand around his throat.

Purple sniffled and put on his helmet. His shoulder’s a little lighter as he walked into the airlock, the door shutting firmly behind him. He searched for Black and held his gaze, pushing all sorts of emotions into his eyes. Black could easily pick out the grief and resignation but he could also see gratitude. The other door opened and Purple was floating out into space.

Black’s throat closed up when he saw Purple hesitate before bringing his hands up to his helmet and taking it off. Purple was choosing to die faster. He still had until the oxygen tanks on his back ran out but he was choosing to die faster rather than live for a small while longer. He looked at peace when his body finally went still.

Black couldn’t handle it anymore and he left. He couldn’t stay and watch any longer. He knew he was missing the small funeral of sorts being held for Cyan but he couldn’t stay. His mind was replaying that day over and over. Showing him the love those two men held for each other. He had been there that day completely by accident. 

White had been out sick that day, he had eaten some bad food and had been holed up in the bathroom for the majority of the day. So Black had been on his own, although he hadn’t been too worried, they had already been two weeks in and the impostors hadn’t done anything yet. He had walked into medbay, Purple and Cyan hovering around a desk with vials of various liquids scattered about. Then the door had shut behind him and he thought that it was the very first sabotage. But then Pink came on the speakers a few minutes later and informed them that it was a technical issue that they were trying to fix and not impostors. 

He completed his tasks since there was nothing else to do but then time went on the doors still weren’t opening. Purple and Cyan had kept themselves busy with those vials but Black had been bored out of his mind and he hadn’t even brought his tablet with him. So he offered to help with whatever Cyan needed to get done. Another hour later and he was sat at a desk in the corner creating backups of files on Cyan’s computer as well as creating physical copies. It was boring and repetitive but it beat doing nothing so Black hadn’t complained. 

Eventually, he had wanted to give his eyes a break so he looked away from the computer and looked around to see what the other men had been doing. They had moved to one of the beds and were chatting quietly with their hands intertwined. And then Purple’s voice had gotten a little louder and the words ‘I love you’ were spilling clumsily from his mouth. Then there was a shock of silence before Purple repeated the words more confidently, and he kept repeating them until there was a huge smile on his face and love was shining so clearly in his eyes. And then they were both laughing, so free and loud and pure, and the only words that were tumbling from both of their mouths were ‘I love you’. It had made Black dizzy with happiness and even though this was a private moment he had been happy that he was there to witness it. 

Then they began to kiss and it had started to get heated and Black had to remind them that he was still there. Their cheeks had turned pink but they had still been so happy and they had been giggly for hours afterward, still so elated. Black hadn’t been there when Cyan had given Purple that necklace but he had seen how much Purple cherished it. A thin silver chain with a small pendant that Black had never gotten to see what it was. 

His gut was still telling him that this was wrong. That voting off Purple had been wrong. It was a mistake and they shouldn’t have done it and Red and Cyan’s murderer was still walking amongst them. 

His suit was starting to suffocate him so he took it off, throwing it angrily at the floor. Someone knocked on his door and he mumbled something unintelligible that the person took as an invitation to come in. He was unsurprised to see White. He had been hoping that it was White, his mind seeking comfort from him. He watched as White sat silently on his desk chair watching him with concern.

“What did he mean,” he asked quietly and cautiously, “Purple, I mean. What day was he talking about?”

Black didn’t really want to share the memory with anyone, mostly because there were no words to express how happy Cyan and Purple had been. “I was there the day they first said I love you to each other.” He didn’t want to elaborate further and White must’ve picked up on that because he didn’t say anything more about the subject.

He pushed himself until his back was against the wall and looked at the empty space beside him on the bed. He wanted nothing more than for White to lay next to him but he didn’t want to ask. So he warred with himself for a few minutes before the words were shakily coming out his mouth, “Can you please…”. He lost courage halfway through and pointedly looked from White to the empty space next to him.

White didn’t need any more words because he was already halfway to him, carefully crawling beside him. He was a little disappointed when he saw White was trying to keep space between them. His skin craved White’s touch but if White didn’t want to be touched then Black would respect that. So instead he let himself drink White in. Going from his soft hair to his pretty eyes, his nose, his lips, his jaw, down to his neck. Black fought the urge to lean in and see how sensitive White is. To feel White’s pulse racing under his lips, to draw out broken pleasured noises, to see how helpless and pliant White would become under him-

He turned forward, his own thoughts starting to set his skin to fire. His mind helpfully reminding him of how close they were right now. He glanced at him again, startling when he saw White staring at him with a look that Black couldn’t find a word for. Maybe open and giving. Somehow Black knew that, in this moment, if he asked for anything right now, White would give it to him. And he found himself thinking pathetically that he would ask for White to love him. He looked away, thoughts racing through his mind with all things he would ask for. _Touch me, love me, don’t leave me, don’t die, please for the love of god don’t die._

They sat there silently, Black having a constant battle to drown out the images of Purple floating in the place he once sought comfort in. Inky blackness with still white stars. Then sometime after he felt his eyes falling shut and he shook himself awake. He was tired, so fucking tired but they still had tasks to do. He moved to get up but White put a warm hand on his thigh and gently pushed down. Every logical thought Black had flew out the fucking window.

“We’re taking a nap,” he said, leaving no room for argument, “I’ll set an alarm for like half an hour and then we could go do tasks, but let’s be honest, we’re both exhausted and can use a nap.” 

Black wanted to protest but he was lying because he really didn’t. He wanted to stay here for as long as they could. He got more comfortable as White turned on an alarm and carefully dropped the tablet on the floor beside the bed. White was still trying not to touch but Black noticed that he had tried to reach out before curling his fingers into fists.

Oh. 

White was afraid of touching Black because of how many times he had pulled away. He wanted to give him permission but he couldn’t get the words passed his throat, so he used his actions instead. He rolled onto his side away from White and reached behind him until he grabbed White’s arm and pulled it around his waist. White had to roll onto his side and now his chest was pressed against Black’s back. That had been all White needed. He was now pressing even closer to him and getting more comfortable, his arm wrapping a little tighter and protectively around Black’s waist. Black wanted more, he desperately wanted more. So he shifted his arms which caused his shirt to ride up and White’s fingers slipped onto the now exposed skin at his waist. 

He couldn’t stop the shiver down his spine and goosebumps rose on his skin when White made a strangled noise in his throat. White’s fingers shakily pressed more firmly into his skin and began drawing random circles and lines on all the skin he could reach, leaving tingles in his wake. Black realized that his earlier thought worked in reverse too. If White asked him for anything, he would give it to him without hesitation. Maybe that was stupid but he didn’t care, he loved him too much to care. 

The comforting touch was enough to set his skin aflame and draw him to sleep. 

  
When he woke up to the alarm, they were mostly in the same position they had fallen asleep in. Except White’s hand had wiggled underneath Black’s shirt and his warm palm was flattened against his stomach. He couldn’t breathe for a good reason this time and his heart was racing. He swallowed his disappointment when White was pulling away to turn off the alarm. He reluctantly followed along and put on his suit before they left and began their tasks, Black still feeling tingles on his stomach and waist, still feeling the firm heat at his back. 

His mind was hazy and distracted as they did tasks. He had to constantly be brought out of his thoughts. Although, he was glad to be distracted. Grief hung in every corner of the ship and followed everyone like a shadow. Everyone felt like a stranger and not someone he’s been stuck on this ship for weeks with. There was no trust anymore, everyone had guarded looks in their eyes. Which he understood completely. It just- It pained him to see people who had gotten close no longer trust them anymore. He wanted to escape back to his room but White had one more task to finish. And they were pretty hungry so they decided to stop by the cafeteria after he finished the last wire task.

Pink and Blue were there, sitting at a small table lining one of the walls. They waved distractedly before huddling closer and talking quieter now that they weren’t alone. He managed to pick out a few things as he grabbed coffee and some snacks. Pink mentioned that they were closer to their destination, a planet called Polus that Black had never been to before. Although he had friends that had been and even though most had stressed that it was harder to find impostors with the area being so big, a few had expressed how much they loved the change of scenery, how much they loved the snow.

A brief little image popped into his head. White with snow catching in his green-blue hair and making him look ethereal and so _so_ pretty. He held onto the imaginary image, hoping that he’d be able to see it come to life. He glanced up at White who sat across from him at a table on the opposite side of the room from Pink and Blue. He is so pretty and Black wanted to tell him that. Wanted to tell him how beautiful he was, how perfectly perfect he was, how perfectly imperfect. He wanted to tell him that he loved him. So achingly and so consumingly. But he didn’t. He kept his mouth shut and took a sip of his coffee.

He hated how he didn’t trust having his back exposed to the room. He knew that Pink was safe and maybe Blue was too but he couldn’t help but think that maybe he didn’t truly know them. Maybe they really were strangers. Maybe they were all strangers to him and he let himself believe what they had shown him. He trusted too easily and cared too much and yet he was still alive. After every assignment, he’d promise himself that he wouldn’t get attached again but then he would, and yet he’d still come out alive. This war, this game, that they were in, was meant to be played with your head but he played with his heart every single time.


End file.
